nadia's Reviews (587)

I am in awe of Chanel Miller and her memoir, which covers the night of her sexual assault on Stanford’s campus and all that was to follow.

This memoir will take you on an emotional journal. It will make you sad, frustrated, and angry. It’ll have you shaking your head in disbelief, even as you read about things that you may already know to be true about the world, about the criminal justice system, about victim blaming, and more.

It’ll also leave you feeling empowered, inspired, and hopeful.

This is a challenging read though, and it may not be for everyone. If you are in a position to engage with this subject matter and with Miller’s fantastic writing and storytelling, then I wholeheartedly encourage you to do so.

First of all, this is book is such a lovely object, with a wonderful use of colour throughout! 

Co-written by a friend from dance, Naomi Shimada, and featuring a range of guest contributors, it explores the pros and cons of social media and the emotional impact of our digital habits across the themes of the body, work, relationships, leisure, communities, and the future.

I loved the wide range of stories, experiences, and perspectives here. I appreciated the open and honest accounts and reflections. It's a book that makes you think about how and why you personally use social media, and whether anything about that usage should change.

From the history of the "body positivity" movement, to LGBTQ+ issues, to race, religion, finding love online, self-harm, mental health, food, activism, and more, I suspect that there'll be one aspect of social media discussed in here that you won't have previously spent much time thinking about!

If you're fascinated by our online culture, want to explore the positive and negative sides, or just like reading other people's stories, then this is a great book for you to check out.

From the title, you might think this book is bad news! Say what? Are you trying to trick users into being addicted to your product?! 

In fact, it's all about how to build products that create healthy habits within your users and ultimately improve their lives. 

There's one section in the book that touches on morality and ethics in product development, and asks the reader to figure out if their product is really worth building. Is it one that you can put out into the world in good conscience?  I was very happy to find that The StoryGraph passed the test. 😌

What I enjoyed about the book was the great mix of psychology, research, practical advice, and anecdotes. I love me real-life startup case studies to reflect on.

If you're curious about what goes into making products that people keep coming back to, are in the ideation phase of your own venture, or currently feeling stuck with a product you're working on, I recommend this easy, quick read!

One of the things that I don't enjoy about poetry is when I have to work hard to make head or tail of what the poet is saying and by the end of the process ultimately feeling none-the-wiser.

I know that a big part of poetry is taking from it whatever strikes you, but I do like to have a more confident assessment of what the poet was attempting to communicate.

So, going into this collection by Sarah Lipton-Sidibeh I was surprised at how straightforward and accessible they were. And Lipton-Sidibeh's uses of rhyme added a quirky twist to what was serious subject matter.

Originally, I enjoyed not having to grapple with the poems. But then, about 60% in, I realised that I was left wanting at the end of each one. It was almost like there was an excitement that wasn't there because everything was laid out for me. I found myself craving more of a challenge.

Still, a few of the poems, especially some of the final lines, did have impact, and a couple made me chuckle at points.

There's a whole range of subject matter in this: Britain's history, politics, the economy, ageing, colonialism, breasts, pregnancy, eating disorders, climate change, relationships, emotions, and more. 

If you like the sound of that variety and are typically afraid of diving into poetry, then I wholeheartedly recommend this collection!

What a sad, slowly-unfolding, gripping tale. A brilliant book that's not easy to read. 

I felt transported back to 1980s Glasgow as I read about the darkness and grittiness surrounding the main cast of characters. 

I loved the writing. My favourite sort — straightforward and accessible, and yet still evoking vivid (and often uncomfortable/unpleasant) imagery with beautiful language. The dialogue also enhanced the immersive experience of the book.

Perfect for lovers of of challenging, sad, slow-paced fiction, with themes of motherhood, poverty, and addiction.

Ever since my school English-studying and creative writing days, I've been saying that I wanted to read more poetry and I'm glad that my Jacaranda Books #Twentyin2020in2021 challenge is forcing me to do just that.

Taking a tip from @ab_reads, I read this whole collection out loud, and I loved the experience. As is normal with poetry, some of the poems I didn't fully grasp, but I think that's the beauty of poetry — you might not connect with or "get" all of them, or take away anything in particular, but the experience of reading them and reflecting on what the poet was thinking about, or trying to get across, is valuable in and of itself.

What I particularly appreciated about this collection was how I could independently tie each poem back to some real-life topic or circumstance: ageing, illness, mental health, love and longing, family, identity, and more. It's poems like this where there's more room for a wider audience to connect with the deeper messages.

I'm looking forward to my next poetry collection!

This was an absolutely brilliant collection of stories! Short stories aren't my favourite at all, and even with this brilliant collection, I still felt like I was missing a little something at times...

...but, this is definitely my current favourite short story collection. So much variety, depth, emotion, intrigue, and, how shall I say it...? Juicy wickedness.

Deesha Philyaw painted these characters in such a magnificent way such that even though you're only with them for a short time, they're so rich and full.

I think my favourite short story ever, and therefore within this collection, is How To Make Love To A Physicist. There were a few rather random personal parallels that I could draw between myself and some past experiences, hopes, and fantasies and the setting and the characters in this beautiful story. It struck me hard!

Anyway, this was fantastic and definitely makes me want to dedicate more time to short stories!

I'm conflicted about how I felt about this book, which I listened to on audio thanks to Libro's ALC programme!

There was a lot of shouting and swearing and at times I was just like: I really don't need this in my ears right now. With this plot, you never knew what was coming up next, which sometimes put me off as it felt unbelievable, and at other times it's what kept me intrigued. I wasn't sure if I was meant to believe everything that was happening or if some of the drama and characters were purposefully over the top for satirical effect. This stuff was sometimes jarring when set next to some deep, emotional events!

However, there were many clever elements to this book. It's in your face with its focus on race, especially the experience of black people in America, and how prejudice and racism manifests itself in the day-to-day interactions, corporate environments, the healthcare system, and more. 

Overall, I did enjoy this. It was a wild ride for sure. And Zeno Robinson is a super talented narrator.

Also, hands down, Mateo Askaripour wins best author's note ever!

I really appreciated the variety of journeys that Ernestine Hayes took us on in Blonde Indian. 

The stories spanned generations, perspectives, and a variety of life circumstances. Themes of family, parenthood, belonging, identity, stories, tradition, and injustice were covered, alongside several others. 

I also greatly appreciated the poetic passages focusing on animals and nature, and how those are integral to the culture of Hayes's Alaskan Native community. 

If there was anything I slightly struggled with in this book, it was getting into a flow with the range of stories and shifting perspectives, switching multiple times within a chapter.

I'm so glad I read this. Thank you to The StoryGraph's Genre challenge for helping me to diversify my reading!

I was incredibly intrigued by the concept of this book, and I certainly kept on turning the pages, but ultimately, it was a tad too slow for me and lacking a certain bite or fire.

The writing and translation were both beautiful!

I definitely recommended it if you love reading mysterious, dystopian fiction.